2 definition
by
Blankety Blank

A habit of speech and conversation whereby a questioner asks a very unspecific question of a questionee, or series of such questions, leading up to the actual question which the questioner would like the questionee to answer. A waste of conversational bandwidth, be it spoken or digital.

"Can I ask you a question?"

useful retorts:

"You just did."
"Yes, but only one, and you already used it up."
"No."